For whom the dead heart beats
by zaion
Summary: Marceline comes back to ooo after forty years of travels. The candy king has just died and on her way to his funeral, she meets someone. A young pink girl with a love for science and experiments. Takes place 10 years before the show. Rated M for possible future lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first bit of creative writing that I have done and taken seriously, so please help me out with my writing and be patient with me if I'm slow to update ok?**

**rated M for possible future lemons**

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For whom the dead heart beats

I stepped out of the make shift shelter on my ship to see the moon shining down on the ocean and the land approaching on the horizon. "I'm finally back," I mutter to myself "just in time." I float back into the shelter and start gathering my supplies. With how close I was to land, I should be able to get to the tree house by dawn; if not then I could always squat at a cave nearby until night time. The funeral isn't until tomorrow night anyway.

My boat grinds to a halt against the cliff side as I step out to tie the boat up, "I need to remember where I put this for when I leave." Once the boat is secured and my stuff is packed up, I float up the cliff side, being sure to leave my mark by the edge so I can know where to come back to. I look around my surroundings to find out where to go, the tall trees around me tell me that I'm a few hours away from the tree house. "No time to waste then, better start moving if I want to get there before the sun comes out." I say to myself as I float onward.

As I move towards shelter, I can't help but wonder about the circumstances of my return to the land of ooo. My vacation was going pretty well until I got wind through some of my ghost friends that the candy king was dying. Knowing the royal family decently well, I knew it would be best for me to go pay my respects. Besides, I had been gone for about forty years, I could use some catching up with the kingdoms, call it diplomacy if you will but I knew I had to come. Luckily the candy king expected me to return and wanted his funeral to be at night, three days after his death. Tomorrow was the big day. "I wonder how Queeny is taking this?" Queeny had always been an effective ruler, but it was obvious that she leaned heavily on her husband for almost everything, without him she would likely collapse under the emotional stresses of everything. Though they should have some heirs by now, so her kids will probably take that roll over.

My thoughts are broken by a warm feeling all over my skin, looking up I see that the sky is beginning to lighten up. Dawn is about an hour away. I look around and see a large open field with the tree house dotting the hilly horizon, not enough time to make it there before burning up and there is no shade in that field. If I get caught there when the sun comes up then I'm done for. Turning up north I head for the scattered mountains, there should be a cave or two there that I could duck into till dusk. I can see a cave just as the sun starts to poke over the horizon, the light slowly singing my skin a bit. I slip into the first cave I can find and look at my skin, pink burns splotch my skin from where the light broke through the trees, I watch as these burns quickly fade into my normal grey skin. "welp, nothing to do now but set up camp here till night time" I mumble to myself as I scope out the cave. There was a stream that ran through the cave and formed a nice little pond towards the cave mouth. Stalagmites grew up randomly throughout the cave, yet formed a nice little pocket towards the pond that was more than perfect for a camp site. All in all, the cave was very homely, in fact with a little effort, it could be made livable. Granted that would require more effort than I would be willing or able to put forth at the moment, though I would like to keep track of this place for later. After taking out some basic supplies from my pack and grabbing a quick bite to eat from a few apples, I decided to leave a mark here as well. I floated over to a divot in the wall and picked up a rock as I carved the large M that declared my territory into the ground underneath it, I then replaced the rock to keep my mark preserved, should I ever need it again. "Whelp," I yawned, "guess I should just rest up for tomorrow, need to get moving a little bit before dusk if I want to get to the funeral at a reasonable time." I was going to need to stop by the tree house for a bit and drop off my stuff before heading down to the candy kingdom. It was going to be a full day.

I woke up extra early that day, after making sure my stuff was packed and getting into more regal wear (I am the vampire queen after all, might as well dress the part for an event like this), I watched the sunset at the mouth of the cave. Once the sun descended under the hills I decided to test it by pushing my arm out into the light, it stung a little bit, but there was no real damage showing up on my skin. I quickly grabbed by bags and floated out as fast as I could, wincing slightly at the pain of the dwindling light.

The second I got a good look at the tree house, I knew something was off. Mainly due to the candle lights inside the house, but I figured that I might as well be cool about this since I'm not going to be around for that long. I'll just let them know that I'm going to be kicking them out for a while.

I was just about to knock on the door when a dog wearing a brown hat opened it. "I'm telling you Margret, this place will be perfect for the boys when they get older." He said, looking back, as he stepped out. "Just need to put in some furniture and who in glob's name are you?" he continued once he saw me.

"I'm Marceline the vampire queen, and I could ask the same question, followed by why are you in my house?"

"Sorry lady, this place was abandoned when we got here. Couldn't get the scent of so much as a dead rat in here this morning. Also the names's Joshua and before you threaten me, I'll have you know that I've dealt with plenty of your kind before." I floated past him and into the house, I couldn't blame him for his mistake, the place did look completely empty, save for a few empty picture frames.

"Well, at least it doesn't seem that you are making yourselves at home here. That means I don't have to kick you out."

"Like I said lady, this place was abandoned when we got here and we are going to be giving it to our kids later. Now if you don't like that then you can lump off and leave us alone." I lifted one of the empty picture frames to reveal my mark on the wall.

"M, for Marceline. Now that that's out of the way, you can get out of my house, though you can have it in a while, I'm not going to be in ooo for too long, but I will come back for it at some point."

"Who is that daddy?" came a voice from the ladder. I turned to see a small puppy standing at the base of the ladder followed by another dog wearing a flower cap this time and holding a… hold on a second, is that a _human?_

"Get the kids out of here Margret, I don't want this vampire scaring Finn."

"Actually hold that thought, Joshua was it?" he nodded, a bit confused. "Is she holding what I think she's holding? Is that a human child?"

"Get away from him you monster!" he shouted, quickly darting between me and his wife. "I'm not letting you hurt him!"

"Whoa jeeze, I'm not going to do anything to him. I did used to be a human myself after all. I'm just surprised; it's been so long since I've seen any humans that I thought there weren't any in ooo anymore." I pushed Joshua aside a bit and floated over to the baby, "what did you say his name was? Finn?" the baby cooed at me before lightly punching me in the face, which made me giggle slightly. "He's the one you're giving this place to?"

"I'm supposed to be living here too" said the pup, still cowering behind his mother, somehow shrunk to be slightly larger than her foot. Wow, what a weird family.

"Of course you are little guy, but until you are supposed to be living here on your own, scram. This is my house." The boy and his mother quickly walked out the door with the baby. "Wait Joshua, before you leave I want to remind you that you can have them stay here when they are ready, like I said earlier I'm not going to be here long. Though when I come back I will want this place back from them, now go on and get out of here."

"Alright I got it." He replied with a doubting expression on his face as he hurried up to catch up with his wife and kids. I turned back into the house, set my bag down and pulled out a snack. Looking outside I realize that I took a bit longer with Joshua than I would have liked, so I decide to put off unpacking for now and head out through a window to the candy kingdom.

I can tell I'm almost there when I smell the sugar in the air and notice some of the trees turning pink and yellow. I can see the walls of the kingdom approaching when I hear something.

"Hey! Get back here!" some girl shouted, "science demands I find out if this works!" ok that's kinda weird. I float over to the voice to see a young pink girl with long wavy hair going partway down her back and a beautiful blue dress chasing a candy squirrel around the trees while carrying what appeared to be a pair of candied wings and a flask of some red liquid.

"What's going on here?" I ask her as I pop out from behind one of the trees. I must have scared her, because she jumps and drops her flask, spilling the contents all over the ground. She looks at the flask; then back to me several times with a shocked look on her face. "Ummm, did I interrupt something?" I ask.

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**Like I said before, this is my first fanfic so please read and review to help me improve my writing. I'll try to update the story regularly.**


	2. Chapter 2

"WHAT THE LUMP? You butt! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get that bonding agent and all this set up?" The pink girl screamed at me motioning to a table with several tools on it as well as the spilled flask.

"Whoa, calm down girl," I said, pushing my hands in between us and backing away, "I don't really know what is going on here or what just happened." Her pink skin darkened to a light red as she looked at me exasperated stumbling for words.

"Calm down? You just ruined my experiment! I was going to create a new type of flying squirrel before you showed up and ruined everything! What are you doing here anyway?"

"Look I was just on my way to the candy kingdom when I heard you screaming at that thing so calm down. Besides, did you ever stop to think of the implications of your experiment and whether or not it was a good idea?" Her jaw dropped at this as her rage shifted more towards confusion, I had her. "Think about it, all it takes is one modified squirrel to start breeding and produce a super race and threaten the ecosystem. Their normal predators can't get to them and they will live and reproduce without anything holding them back."

"So? How much harm could a few squirrels do?" she retorted, clearly still in shock by me going into this subject, yet it seemed to be calming her down.

"Their population would rise exponentially with fewer predators and they would start to consume a lot, normal squirrels would have a hard time getting food and would die out. Ground based predators wouldn't be able to hunt them so they would die out as well, and then there are the seeds that would be eaten by the rapidly growing population, so trees would stop growing as much."

"Ok I get it, I didn't think it through." She threw up her hands in defeat, "How do you even know these things?"

"When you've been around as long as I have, you learn a lot of things, including how easy it is to throw everything out of whack. Weather that is people or an ecosystem, the principle is the same".

"As long as you have been around? You're what twenty?" she retorted, clearly not noticing the fact that I'm floating. It's getting way too fun to mess with this girl.

"No, I'm over one thousand," I stated while kicking my feet up in front of her to float as if I was in an invisible hammock and flashing my fangs, "in case you couldn't tell, I'm a vampire."

Her face went completely blank for a second until she processed what I just told her. "Wait, so vampires are real? I've never seen one before." The look of shock I expected was missing, in its place stood a look of pure fascination. "You simply must tell me all about your kind!"

I looked up at the sky to check the time, "while I would love to stay and talk about myself, I have to get going before I'm late. Maybe I'll see you later some time?" I said as I quickly floated away waiving. I hear her call out to me, but I ignore her, I really am running late.

It's strange though, when I said that I would love to stay and talk with her, I actually meant it. I actually enjoyed talking to her. Maybe sometime after the funeral we could hang? No, that won't happen, I don't even know her name, much less if I would see her again. Though I have to admit, she was kind of cute. "Well, I'll talk to her if I see her again." I whisper to myself as I enter the candy gates.

I enter the candy castle through one of the windows; I've never been one for big entrances, so I snuck in to the throne room where the service was being held through the back. They are still setting up the room for the guests, "Good, I'm early." I say as I look around the room, the casket was set up closed for the moment directly in front of the throne, flower arrangements were hung between the candy cane pillars with black ribbons and white bows that covered the red stripes of the pillars. The candy queen was overseeing a few servants who were setting up chairs. "Hey Queeny, you alright?" She jumped and turned to me.

"Oh, Marceline, you made it." She sighed and hugged me, "It's so good to see you, if only it was under better circumstances." When she let me go I gave her a look over, her golden crown of power sat on her poofy gray hair, her face was starting to show its age, wrinkles appearing under her eyes and her cheeks were beginning to sag. "I will never get used to your looks, it's been forty years and you haven't aged a day, it's unnerving, especially when I know my age is catching up to me."

"It's not as good as it seems Queeny; we've talked about that before. Now, I never actually heard, how did it happen?"

"Age and sickness mainly, but the final blow was a fall in the basement. He was going to check on one of our daughter's experiments and ended up slipping down the stairs, if he hadn't been so weak this month then he would have made it. He ended up in the hospital for a week until he died the other day."

"Wow, so when is the service supposed to be?" I ask, hoping to get Queeny to stop thinking about how he died.

"We still have a few hours until it starts, and then we will put him in the royal crypt right outside the wall." At that moment, peppermint butler came in and pulled on Queeny's skirt.

"M'lady, the princess has just come in. She will be ready for the service shortly." He said with a short little bow before turning to me. "Why hello Madam Abadeer, it's good to see you again."

"Ugh, peppermint, how many times do I have to tell you to not call me that? It makes me really uncomfortable."

"Very well M'lady."

"Don't call me that either. I know I'm old but you don't have to act like I am. Just call me Marceline"

"Alright Marceline," he turned back to Queeny, "now the preparations are complete and the guests should be arriving any minute now M'lady"

"Good, I just want this day to be over with." She sighed. I floated over to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder for comfort. She turned her head towards me and rested it on my shoulder in a display of weakness and longing that I had never seen before. It was going to be a long night.

I had missed most of the actual service. As soon as the princess arrived I couldn't focus on any of the words being said. I couldn't believe it when she walked in, wearing a long black dress with a black liquorice bow tying it around her waist. But most striking about her was her face. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, helping to convey the look of pure sadness she wore. All of this made her absolutely stunning, the only thing I could think about was how she made me want to comfort her, to wipe the frown off of her face, and no one makes me want to get that sappy. It definitely didn't help that I already met her in the woods. I watch her intently as she sat down in front of me for the service, I saw her step up to the podium to give her speech, but I didn't actually notice until half way through.

_Oh glob, I need to get it together. She's going to ask how her speech was and I won't be able to remember any of it, I'm sure of it! _I shake my head slightly to try to gather my thoughts. _Maybe I can steer the conversation away from that. I'll just give a vague complement and leave it at that. Then I can try to apologize for the woods incident, wait why would I apologize for that? Ugh, I'll just try to talk to her some more, she did say she wants to know about vampires. But what if she's too emotional to deal with that right now? She'll start going on about her dad's death and how she blames herself, I'll just silence her with a kiss and. Wait NO, she's a princess and she's in mourning, I can't be thinking like that!_

Everyone stands and begins to leave, _ah gob it, I missed the rest of the service!_ I float out to follow everyone when someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around to see the princess standing just a few feet from me. "Hey, you're that vampire from the woods aren't you? You never did tell me your name."

"Oh, yeah, I'm Marceline." I float away from her, slowly, trying to put space between us while not offending her.

"Hmm, well once the funeral is over, I would still like to ask you some questions about vampires." She smiled at me, somehow hiding the pain that was on her face just moments ago. "Though I would still like to know why you're here. I take it you know my parents somehow?" she looked at me with inquisitive eyes, probing me for as much information as they could get, making me feel like I can't refuse her.

"Yeah I know them; it's been forty years since I've seen them though. I guess you could say I'm here for diplomacy."

"So you're royal? Or are you just a friend of royalty?"

"I'm the vampire queen." She looks at me in shock at this, "Eh, it's not that big of a deal. Vampire laws are pretty common sense and I'm not really needed for much unless things start to get out of whack. Other than that, vampires govern themselves. It's kinda a ceremony thing." Her eyes widen as I say this and we walk out of the city walls. We're forced to quiet down as we approach the crypt. The building looks like any other crypt except for the fact that it, like everything else here, is made of candy. The rooms are dimly lit with torches that peppermint butler lights as we pass. We descend two floors before we come to a room with several coffins set into the walls and one wall that has yet to be filled. The coffin is set into the lowest slot, it slowly sinks into it as soon as it is set, it must be gum.

After the burial, I decide to attempt to get away from the candy kingdom. Mainly to get away from the princess who won't stop following me around, barraging me with questions. Normally I wouldn't have a problem answering them, she's nice enough, the problem is that I can hardly think straight around her. I just don't get it, just looking at her sets my mind ablaze. I get along with her, but I know I want more than that, what I don't get is why and what to do about it. I've felt this way before, most recently with Ash, but never before with another royal, much less a princess.

"I'm going to have to go Queeny," I wave, making sure that the princess can hear me, "I just got here and got my stuff together so I'm really tired." I could see both of them start to voice complaints "Don't worry, I will be back tomorrow. I just need to rest a bit." I float out towards the exit of the candy castle.

"You promise you will be back?" the princess calls out to me, I hope the worry I hear is more than that of someone who's test subject just left.

"Yes, I promise I will be back." I wave her off. "Oh, before I go, what is your name by the way?"

"It's Bonnibel Bubblegum." She calls out, waving. I swear she blushes at the mention of her name. "I'll see you tomorrow night Marceline." I wave as I fly out of the kingdom and head towards the tree house. I need to figure out what I'm going to do with her. Whatever it is I hope Queeny doesn't mind.

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**This chapter gave me some issues towards the beginning with PB and marceline's intorduction to each other. But it started to flow better once i got past that. **

**as always, please leave some reviews.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, sorry about the long wait. It's been a combination of me fighting the lazies and some events happening at home (both good and bad) But i promise to continue working on these, hopefully at a quicker pace.**

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I arrived at the tree house about two hours before sunrise. I decided to use this opportunity to unpack my stuff while I figured out what I was going to do about Bonnibel. I knew I liked her, after being around for a thousand years I know how to tell when a serious crush was forming. I would have been fine if it hadn't been for her dress and the way she talked to me at the funeral. But with how stunning she looked and the way she talked so freely to me while standing so close, I just couldn't take my eyes off her or stop thinking about her. Thinking back on all of this just makes me even more flustered.

_Ok Marceline, clear your mind of all of that. Think, what are you going to do about this crush?_ I sigh; my thoughts aren't clearing up any. This is going to be harder than I thought. _You've had crushes like this before, you've had plenty of boyfriends and even a few girlfriends in the past thousand years Marceline, don't let her inquiring eyes intimidate you._ While I think this, I begin to open up my bags. First thing's first, I put my food in the fridge upstairs. My clothes can stay where they are for now though. _Talking to her shouldn't be a problem; she's invited you over tomorrow. That and she's already interested in you, in a way, so that's a start. But how should I do this? I know Queeny likes me and everything but I don't think she would quite approve of me sweeping her daughter off her feet; she's got enough on her plate as it is._

_Actually, _I think as it dawns on me,_ that could actually work to my advantage. Her thoughts are going to be occupied so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. I'll just worry about how to explain everything to her once she starts to feel better. _I hate how it feels like I'm going behind Queeny's back, but it's the only way to not stress her out any more than she already is. I float back downstairs to my bags and grab my axe-bass. I start to strum out a few notes in an attempt to calm my nerves. It works as it always does; music always has had a way of soothing me.

Since we had the funeral today, there should be an event tomorrow, such as a banquet or a ball, maybe both, in an attempt to raise the people's spirits. Personally, I find the practice a bit disrespectful, but the citizens of the candy kingdom are a bit special, they need to be kept in good spirits or else they just… stop working right. Their kingdom can't really handle a mourning period.

I look out the window; the sky is just starting to lighten up slightly. Just a few more hours till sunrise. I pull the shutters and shades closed. If one good thing came from living here with Ash about fifty years ago, it's that we managed to sun proof this place. I still wish I had smacked him around a bit for everything he did. Maybe I could do just that the next time I see him. The thought brings a smile to my face.

But now isn't the time for those kind of thoughts. What I need to do is go ahead and go to bed so I can get to the candy kingdom before dusk and make it in time for the banquet. The candy kingdom always starts banquets before sunset for some reason that I will never understand. You would think that they would wait when the royal family has connections to vampires.

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When I get up, there are a few hours remaining until sunset. I float down stairs to get ready. While I would normally settle for wearing jeans and a tank top, but I'm going to need to look impressive for the plans that I have today. So I pull out a long sleeveless red dress, one of the only outfits I have that are red that I haven't tried to drink the color out of, and a low V-cut collar. As I pull this dress on, I get an idea. I grab my axe bass and sling it over my shoulder and quickly grab my daytime gear of my arm length gloves and umbrella before heading out the door. Unfortunately, my daytime gear doesn't quite help my legs, so I wince slightly as they burn while I float on toward the candy castle, my feet occasionally slipping in and out of shade.

I arrive at the castle to see that people are still funneling into the main hall. Once I cross through the door I hear a voice above me shout, "Bwaa, bwaa, blaaaaa! Introducing the vampire queen Marceline!" I look up to see a horse shaped piñata hanging from the ceiling and looking at me.

"Uh, thanks." I say to it

"You're welcooome" it says while giving me a huge smile. If there is one thing that stays constant about the candy people, it's that they are pretty much always friendly, regardless of weather or not they may seem a bit creepy.

"Marceline, you made it!" I turn away from the piñata to see Bonnibel walking towards me. She's wearing a long blue dress that gets progressively darker as it reaches the ground. She wears a sash around her midsection that marks where her light pink hair ends. She watches me as I close my umbrella and then step out of the light, my skin sizzling for a second before I step into the shade of the building. "Doesn't that hurt?" she asks while looking a bit worried.

"Of course it does" I say while looking for somewhere to put my umbrella and gloves, "it's just that after being around for so long, I get a bit used to it." I turn away and put my stuff in the umbrella bin in the corner. "Plus it reminds me of my mother and how she would take care of me when I got hurt." I smile "Besides, I heal quickly anyway."

She still looks slightly worried about me, but seems more understanding now before shaking it off. "Anyway, Marceline, please come in. We are just about to start the banquet once everyone gets settled in here." As we walk, she spies my bass strapped onto my back with the strings facing away from her. "Um, should I take your axe for you?" she asks while giving me a strange look.

"Oh no this stays with me, and it's not just an axe, it's my bass guitar." I explain as I swing it around and strum a few random notes. "I'm going to be putting on a performance later on tonight." I look around the room and see Queeny sitting at the far end of the table, her expression almost completely blank. The look of someone who doesn't quite know what face to show others, one who is too worried as to how others see her to let them know how she feels. "Gob knows Queeny needs a distraction from all of this."

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The banquet itself is uneventful; though I was surprised how much spaghetti Bonni was able to shovel down. The main problem I had is trying to find someone willing to eat what I suck the color out of; it's surprising how many of the candy people find this disgusting, but luckily pepbut was understanding so he would take my food away and bring it back to the table later for other people. I spent a lot of time explaining who I was to the candy people, since quite a few of them didn't remember me. Queeny was doing a good job of directing the candy people's attention away from recent events, but she wasn't fooling me. She was way too stressed for my tastes.

Queeny stood up from the table for an announcement. "Alright everyone, finish up your meals and we will head down to the courtyard for the ball." She said in a loud yet soft, motherly tone, "From what I understand, we have a surprise performance tonight." She glanced over toward me as she said this. The candy people were sent into a buzz about this, trying to find out who it was, while the few that remembered me seemed to simply get giddy at the news. All of the candy people attempted to finish their food quickly, one of them, a cinnamon roll, just started shoving his food directly into his stomach once he saw a few people stand up to leave. I went ahead and excused myself; once I approached Bonni I place my hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"I'll talk to you after the first few songs" I whisper to her. She nods back to me as I float on out the building. The courtyard houses a large and beautiful garden, the entrance has a hedge-arch over it, a small fountain lies in the middle of the courtyard with small gardens in the corners. Directly across from the entrance at the far end of the courtyard is a large stage with a few lights above it, all of this surrounded by large hedges that form walls. Normally I would need some back up here, but due to the short time and the mood we are trying to set here, I decide to just do a few solo pieces. People are starting to flood in now so I float over near the stage to wait for the majority to get situated when I see Bonni walk in with Queeny.

Once I decide that I have waited long enough, and the people have started to get pumped with anticipation of the "mystery performer" I step up to the stage with my axe in tow. I grab the mic and call out for their attention. "Hey there candy kingdom, it's been a while. I'm Marceline the vampire queen and I am going to be doing your opening performance tonight. So everyone get on the dance floor and get ready for some jams!" I start to float in a nonchalant manner before I begin to play. I start with a really chill song to get people in the mood, and I start to pick up the energy with each song, getting more and more into each piece. My performances have always had a profound effect on people, and now is now exception as I can see Queeny is on the floor and dancing with her people as if she hasn't a care in the world by the third song. Bonni is following suit in a more awkward manner towards the edge of the crowd, I can tell that she isn't one for dance parties, though I think I can see her keep glancing at me out of the corner of her eye, regardless of who she may be dancing with. I try to bring the energy down slightly after my fourth song before setting my feet back onto the stage to call out to the people again and sign off. I swing my bass to back before flying off the stage to the punch bowl where I grab myself a glass and watch some orchestra take my place on the stage as they push for more of the slow moving music that one would normally think of in a royal ball. As I sit down at a random table in the back to relax, I see Bonni come sit down next to me.

"You were great up there Marceline. You really livened up this place"

I nod "Yeah, I can tell. Even your mother is having a good time now. Regardless of how down she may have been feeling before."

"So you caught that huh?" she says solemnly "she hasn't quite been the same since dad had his accident." she shakes her head as she looks at me. "But enough about that, I believe you promised me that you would answer some questions about being a vampire?"

"Ah, I did." I chuckle "go ahead and ask what you want to know." I figure it couldn't hurt to satisfy her curiosity, how long could it take to answer a few questions?

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About an hour and a half as it turns out. Sheesh this girl has a lot of questions and she is not afraid to ask some of the more uncomfortable ones either. She flippin asked me about how being undead affected my menstrual cycle, now that was embarrassing.

"Ok, I think I'm done with the questions for one night." I say as I get up from my chair. "It's almost midnight anyway so I think we should be moving somewhere else before people start heading home." I offer her my hand to pick her up from her seat before leading her past the crowd and to the main gardens. "So since you spent all that time asking me questions, I feel that I've earned the right to ask a few myself." I glance down at her slyly in an attempt to make her nervous. It seems that I succeeded, as she blushes slightly and nods to me. "Ok so first off, since I know that candy people age strangely, how old are you?"

"_We_ age strangely? This coming from the one who's immortal?" she shakes her head at me, "Well since you asked, I'm sixteen, though father said that I'm going to look around this age for quite a while to come."

"Sixteen huh? A princess that old must have a guy in the picture right?"

"Actually, no. I've dated a little bit but I don't have a boyfriend." She looked up at me with a bit of fire in her eyes and said "Though just because I'm single, don't be pulling the 'old maid' card on me. If I'm not going to be aging for a while then I should be able to put off anything permanent until I feel I am ready for it."

"Don't worry, I get it. You're forgetting that I am immortal, a queen, and single as well. Believe me when I say, I know what you mean." I look over her shoulder and see that they are beginning to disperse and the courtyard is being packed up by the servants. "Anyway, since we are going to have to head back to see off your guests, I have a proposal for you. How about tomorrow night me and you head out on the town? Just us girls?"

"Well I might have a few things to do tomorrow, but sure I'll see if I can slip out." She smiles as we turn out of the garden to meet up with Queeny. "What exactly would you have in mind anyway?" she asks.

"Well there should be a movie coming on tomorrow, unless it's that couple's night junk. But other than that I would rather keep it as a surprise."

"hmph, I don't like not knowing plans ahead of time." She pouts "But fine, I'll leave it to you then." She says as we wave off the last few citizens. "Oh and this movie night is supposed to be some action flick called… I think that Joshua said it was something called _assignment improbable_ or something like that."

"Ok good, as long as it's not any of that sappy stuff then it should be good. Now don't worry, I've got the rest handled." I pat her shoulder and stifle a yawn. "Though today has been kinda tiring, I should probably be heading back to the tree house and get some sleep." I float out as I hear a short protest from Bonni. "Don't worry princess; I'll pick you up tomorrow night!" I call out. I smile to myself at being able to set up this date, even if she doesn't see it as one. I figure I should start planning for the rest of the date once I get to the tree house, but for now I'm just floating off feeling satisfied with myself. I start to notice that the night is getting really cold, making me wish I had worn a longer dress with a few more layers.

"Wait a minute," I stop myself, "I'm dead, I shouldn't be _feeling cold._" just as I say this I notice a small amount of snow drifting down. "Oh, no." I whisper as I realize what's going on, and the moment I do, I hear a scream come from the castle followed by a familiar voice.

"Oh come on princess, stop squirming and just come with me." He says.

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**My first dramatic cliff hanger, what do you think? as always, please leave me some reviews. and i promise i will attempt to get these chapters out faster.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the long wait everyone. I've got no excuse other than a case of the lazeys this time. Oh and yui who asked about finn getting with flame princess. finn is still an infant in this story, so no, though i will be doing an epilogue that take place in the show's time frame so by then, yes. But anyway, here's chapter 4!**

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"Oh bread balls, Oh bread balls." I mutter as I rush back to the castle as quickly as possible, aiming directly for the nearest window. "This can't be happening, not now." As I fly up to the window, I see the snow that has formed on the window sill from his entrance. I rush in and look around to find the Ice King floating up by the rafters of the great hall with Bonnie tied up under his arm attempting to fight him off.

"Oh come on princess, you know if you keep struggling like that, I'm going to have to freeze you solid, and that's not ideal for either of us." He chuckled to himself. "Quite honestly, I prefer my princesses to not be rock hard. But I guess I could make an exception if you force me to baby."

Queeny is standing almost directly below them when she shouts before running out of the room, "Don't worry Bonnibel; I'll call Joshua to come and save you. You'll be alright." I can tell by looking at her that this has become a somewhat frequent occurrence since I left ooo. When she says this, I can see Bonnie relax a little bit before she turns around in the Ice King's arms a bit and spots me.

"Marceline, get out of here!" she calls out to me, "he might come back for you as well!" He begins to fly back towards the main entrance with her in hand as I stand there gritting my teeth.

My hands tighten into fists and my entire body tenses. I can't just let him take my future girlfriend away like this, even if they have plans for this kind of situation. Even if he may have been my best friend, I cannot allow this. I suck in a breath and call out as loud as possible.

"**Simon!"**I yell, stunning everyone in the room, **"Drop. Her. Now."**

"What?" both Simon and Bonnie say in unison as he turns around to face me. I fly up to eye level with him, baring my fangs. "Marceline? Is that you?" he asks, completely dumbfounded.

"You two know each other?" Bonnie asks, surprised.

"Oh, does he know me." I practically growl, "Now Simon, I thought I just told you to put her down?"

"Marceline! How many decades has it been?" he asks, completely ignoring my demands, "No seriously, how long has it been? I can't remember." He scratches his head for a bit as he tries to recall our last meeting before the thought passes from his face. "Oh, it doesn't matter. It's just nice that you're back in time to meet my new fiancé. Say hi baby." He directs that last part at Bonnie, a gesture that makes me tremble with rage. "I was just about to take her back to my place so she can get settled in for a while before we end up getting mar-"

I cut his statement off with a sharp slap. I grab onto his beard with one hand as I begin to shift. My limbs grow longer; my fingers grow into claws, and my forearms become misshapen as slight splotches of skin colored fur grow on my shoulders and elbows. My eyes turn red and my nose morphs into that of a bat's. And finally my teeth and mouth begin to fuse forming a devilish grimace. My sudden increase in weight pulls him down to the ground as I stare him in the eyes and say very clearly, "She's MINE, now let her go."

He's very shocked by my new form and he ends up dropping bonnie. She takes the opportunity to crawl away from us but gets to the wall and turns to watch. I grab him with my other clawed arm and say to him "You are going to leave her alone, or else you will be dealing with me, got that? I'm not going to be nearly as nice about this as they might. I don't care how much of a friend you have been to me in the past, but NO ONE threatens my girl. Understand?"

He nods quickly and struggles to get out of my grasp, "yeah, yeah I get it. Just let me go already." He cries out desperately. I let go and he falls backward before scrambling up to his feet again and running off. He flaps his beard to take off flying to the ice kingdom without looking back.

"Wow," Bonnie says once she regains her composure, "you sure can be intimidating when you want to be." I begin to shift back to my base form, suddenly beginning to worry about how much of what I said that she had picked up on. I didn't mean to be so open with what I was saying, I just got caught up in the moment and I guess I got territorial.

"Yeah, well I couldn't just let him fly off with you." I say, forcing a chuckle as I untie her hands.

Once her hands are free she holds her hand up to signal me to stop and begins to work on her legs. "Though there's something about what just happened that I have to know." She says, her fingers flicking out the knots quickly.

_Oh dear gob please don't_

"You called the Ice King 'Simon', do you know him?" as she says this she shoots me a somewhat suspicious glare.

_She must think that I knew he was going to try to capture her._

"Oh, that." I chuckle nervously, heat building in my face, "yeah I know him. The both of us have been around for a _long_ time. I knew him back before he got all messed up in the head. During the war." I sigh. "He used to be a good man, you would have liked him back then, he was obsessed with science and ancient history." I grit my teeth and turn from her. "But that darn crown messed everything up. It allowed him to survive the war, but it messed his head up bad. You can see how he is now, he doesn't care about anyone anymore, he just wants to satisfy his obsession with 'his princess' no matter who he hurts."

"Unless it's me." I mutter, not caring if she hears or not. "He only acts like himself again if _I'm _the one who gets hurt."

"So, he was a dear friend to you." She says "I see."

"No, not a friend, more like a father." I interject. "He raised me and protected me through all the craziness that was going on at the time." I say, tears welling up in my eyes. "He protected me and all I could do was watch him slowly go insane."

Bonnie rests a hand on my shoulder "I'm sorry Marceline. I shouldn't have accused you." She says softly. "I didn't know what he meant to you. It must have taken a lot to stand up to him like that."

I turn to face her. "Thank you, princess." I say as I wrap one hand around the one on my shoulder, cherishing her body heat.

"I guess it also shows that you really wanted to see that movie with me." She jokes, pulling her hand away. "After all you stood up to him for _me_, I must say I'm flattered."

My face turns red as she laughs at me. The sound of her voice echoes through the hall, growing louder as she sees my reaction to her teasing. I turn and hiss at her, flicking my forked tongue at her, and she laughs even harder. She falls back a bit, catching herself with one hand and I start to chuckle too. Next thing I know we are both laughing almost hysterically when Queeny comes back into the main hall and sees us both lying on the floor laughing.

"What just happened?" she asks, "Did the Ice King leave?"

Bonnie stifles her laughter for a bit and breaths a few times to calm herself. "Yes mother," she says, gesturing at me "Marceline here rescued me from him before we even left the room."

I stand up and walk to her "Don't worry Queeny; I managed to scare him off. If I'm right, then he shouldn't be bothering you guys for a while."

"Oh, thank goodness." She sighs "The Ice King has become such a nuisance lately. He has taken a special interest in Bonnibel ever since she turned fifteen." She walks towards the door to the main corridor as we follow her "His attempts have been getting so frequent that I was beginning to worry that I would need to place banana guards around her 24/7. At my age, I can't be worrying about my daughter's safety like that. So thank you for handling him, if only for now." She finishes as we reach the spiraling stairs that head up to her room.

"I told you that you don't have to worry about me like that mother." Bonnie says with a concerned look on her face.

"Oh but I do Bonnibel. Like it or not, you are the future of this kingdom. If anything were to happen to you, the kingdom would fall into complete disarray."

"That's why I've been working on a way to create a successor." She says quickly. "So we have some form of backup in case that was to happen."

"Bonnibel," she turns at the top of the stairs "that simply won't do. You know the law as well as I do. Even if you were to create a successor, it would not be a legitimate heir. Your successor wouldn't have as much power in dealings with other kingdoms as an heir grown to the Bubblegum family." She sighs. "Besides, the people _like _you Bonnibel. They would much prefer to live under your rule than one who was created by your hand."

"I'm going to have to side with Queeny on this one." I interject. "Think of it this way, most other kingdoms don't trust those who are created through alchemy with any form of power. They believe that they are too easily swayed or they are mentally unstable. Plus they are viewed as a form of child, since they're created for the job and made in their prime. It may be different in the candy kingdom, but the other kingdoms would never accept a created ruler."

"Exactly," says Queeny, "Don't put all your hopes into your creations Bonnibel, and please, do be careful." As she says this she enters her bedroom and shuts the door behind her. Bonnie looks at me, looking somewhat peeved.

"You think that people wouldn't like a created ruler? I'll have you know that I'm on my way to making one who would be _perfect _for the candy kingdom."

"Chill princess. I'm just saying that the other kingdoms would never accept them." I defend myself, throwing my hands back.

"You _think _they would never accept them you mean." She says as she stomps off and heads towards her room.

_Sheesh, who would have thought she would be so defensive over her experiments?_ I think to myself. I figure now is as good of a time as any to head back to the tree house, so I float back down the stairs and head for the great hall.

As I cross the corridor I begin to feel like something's wrong. I float into the doorway of the corridor and quickly find out why when my skin starts to smoke. The sun has already risen and the great hall is completely bathed in light. Not only that, but my daytime gear is by the front entrance of the great hall along with my bass. It seems that I am stuck here for now.

I float back up to where Bonnie's room is and knock on the door a few times.

"What is it?" she calls out.

"Umm, princess, I'm going to be stuck here till the sun goes back down. I was wondering if you could let me stay in your room for the day?"

She opens the door to let me in. "Sure" she says, still looking somewhat mad at me yet notably less so, "but you're still going to have to change when we go out tonight." She states bluntly. " and don't even think about taking any of _my _clothes."

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**The discussion with Queeny turned out a bit more political than I had originally intended, but all in all I think it turned out very well. As always, tell me what you guys think. Reviews are my fuel.**


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